Gas purification



June 22,1926f 1,589,749

W. H. FULWEILER GAS 'PURIFICATION Filed Feb. 27. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 22 1926.

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. 1,589,749 Y w. H. FULwElLER GAS PURIFICATION Filed Feb. 27, 1925 l2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Armen/Ev Patented `)une 22, 1926.

UNITED .STATES PATENT oFFlCE.

wALTnn 1r. runwnman, or'v wALLINer-oan, PENNsYLvANIA, AssrGNon To THE n'. s. I. eoMnAcTING COMPANY, goF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A coa- POl-ATION I DELAWARE.

GAs PURIFroATIoN.

Application led February 27, 1935; Serial I Io. 11,980.

, Ther present invention relates to improvements 1n the purification of gases by scrubbing them withan alkaline solution capable of absorbing hydrogen-sulphide as alkaline sulph-hydrate and then regenerating or actif ingthesulph-hydrate in the solution by t' e action of air producing free sulphur.

The principal jects-of the present invention are, first, to improve the action of the.

airin respectto appllcation,'eontrol and distribution and in other respects; second, to provide -for limiting the concentration of the foul'solution, in the process of its being actitied, in respect to the 4hydrogen sulphide content, as alkaline sulph-hydrate, per-unit of volume of the solution being actified, thereby insuring the precipitation ofnfree sulphur; third, vvtocproviue for foaming ofi the free sulphur recover l from the actiication ofthe foul solution; fourth, to. make the process efficient; and fifth, to facilitate the actification.

' illustrat To these and other ends hereinafter set forth, the invention comprises the improvements in a p'aratus and in methods hereinafter. described and of which 'the latter are claimed herein and the former are claimed in a companion application, Serial No.

729,519. In the following description reference w1ll be lmade to/the .accompanying drawings forming art hereof and in which there is ed apparatus embodying features of the linventlon and capable of use inA the practice of the method of the invention.

Inf'the drawin Figure 1 is a 'agrammatlc and schematic view illustrative of a complete plant embotllvying features of the invention.l

ig.'2 is a top or plan view of a portion of the same. f y Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view which may l be rded 'as taken generally across the animi own at the lower portion of Fi ure 1. Fig. 4 is an elevational view of w ich a portionv is in section and it is drawn to an enlarged seal/e, and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figure 1 illustratingla modification.

' v lieferringto the drawings, more particularly Figs. 1 to 4 1 general-l is an actifying tank to which foul solutirdn or alkaline so u tion which has been used to scrub as- -for the removal of impurities of which ydrogen sulphide is an example, is led and vfrom whi'chthe actiied solutionfis returnedtothe tower. The arrows 3 indicate the direction of travel of gas through the tower 2,

'and -internally the tower 2 may be fitted with suitable devices commonly employed in scrubbers and too Well understood b those Y skilled inthe art to' require further escription or illustration. In the actifyin tank 1 the solution is subjected to. the action of air or is aerated. For this purpose usel is ,l

made of foraminous'orpo'rous hollow cylin- ,l ders or bodies 4, Fig. 4. These hollow bod-l les withstand `high pressure air,the use of whlch is desirable. An example of material from which to make the bodies 4 is alunduni. The bodies 4 may -be readilyremoved and -cleaned. A group of bodies 4 may well/beI mounted upon a manifold 5 of ygenerally g U-shape, and each manifold may be connectfeet per square 'foot of surface of the bodies 4 er minute. Evidently the valved branches A permit of the regulation of the fair supply at `different parts of the tank.

The em loyment of the foraminous bodies 4 exten mg upward from the bottom of the" j tank into the contents thereof insures a larg'earea over which the air is applied and the actlon between the solution and theair i 1s a surface action so that this is a matter of considerable importance. By way of further description of thelhollow bodies 4, it

may be said that there should be a loss of more than one-half pound in pressure vwhen passing one cubic foot of air per square foot per minute and it is well that the loss should be in the neighborhood of a pound. This represents-a material having interstices or pores in itsouter surfaces smaller than 0.000007 sq. in. and preferably about 0.000003 sq. in. being about 30,000 to 60,000

tothe square inch. The tank 1 is sub-divided .by partitions of which one 9 extends length- -wiseand of which the others are arranged crosswise, and of the crosswise partitions some, 10, extend to the bottom 'of the tank,

and others, 11, stopshort of the bottom of the'tank, thus the ow is. in the direction 'of the dotted line a. The foul solution escaping from the bottomof the tower 2 is delivered bythe valved branches 12 of the pipe 13 to the spaces between the crosswise partitions. By regulating the valves in these ranches, it is' ossible to hold down the con-A centration of t e foul solution in process of bein actied in respect to l the hydrogen sulp ide content, as alkaline sulphy'drate,

per unit of volume of the solution being' actifie'd. The concentration should be such that'free sulphur will be precipitated. `If the concentration is too high, free sulphur is not precipitated properly and there is atendency for the action to go to thiosulphate which is iriert.

The concentration of thiosulphate above ltwenty grains per litre in the contents of the level ofthe fiuid in the tank may be maintained at 16.

'yl an adjustable overliow indicated e ascendmg air causes a movement 'n in the fluid and the ballie plates direct this movement so far as -the foamis concerned toward the adjustable dam 14. The ascending air also tends to lift the foam and in that wa vmore or less of it may be taken olf by justin the dam 14.

The weak al ali orv soda solution should be appropriate to absorb not over fifty grains of hydrogen sulphide per gallon of solution in cases where high eflciency is desired. To

get the maximum deposition of free sulphur the ratio of bi-carbonate .to carbonate is between six and fourteen times as much bi-carbonate as carbonate. The ratio may be increased Uby reduction of the airblowing and lowered by blowing more air.

It may be remarked that the carbon dioxide in the gas gives rise to the carbonate orv birhaps 15 minutes, more carbonate in the alkaline solution. Eiii- `ciency is promoted by the presence of soluble iron sulphide in the weak alkaline' solu tion and ofcourse the kind of soluble iron sulphide contemplated is not precipitated.

This-can 'be accomplished by adding a solul tion of copperas in water to a large quantity of fouled solution and allowing it to settle. A portion of the iron sulphide is precipitated and is not useful in the process. An other portion remaining in soluble form is present in the supernatant liquor which is drawn oli' yfor use. A suicient quantity of the supernatant liquor is put into the alkaline solution so that the amount of iron appromimates 0.2 gram per litre. The added iron being already sulphide,`cannot remove hydrogen sulphide from theygas but its presence increases the efficiency of the process.

The construction and mode of operation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5 are ashas been described except that the tank, or, more accurately, the sub-divisions 1l that make up the tank are separate units having separate valved sup ly connections and common outlet connectlons 17 to the sub division 1". There is also shown a sump 18.

The pump 19 serves to return the actified v solution to the top of the tower by way of the pipe 20 in the constructions of both Fig. 1 and Fig. 5.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates that modilications may be made'in procedure and in matters of mere form without departing from the spirit of the invention which is not limited as to those matters or otherwise 'than as the prior' artand the appendedA claim may require.

I claim:

In the purification'of gas by scrubbing it with a weak alkaline solution the process of actifying the foul solution containing alkaline sulphydrate which consists in releasing sulphur as such from the alkaline sulphydrate by the action of air and foaming olf the sulphur by regulating the air and maintaining the concentration of the thiosulphate in the solution above twenty grams per litre. l

WALTER H. FULWEILR. 

